Motorsports

Kyle Busch earned a berth in the second round of NASCAR’s playoffs with a dominant victory Sunday at New Hampshire Motorspeedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. Busch slipped through smoke from a multi-car crash on the backstretch that knocked out Martin Truex Jr.

It’s just a coincidence both the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup and NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series will start the championship portion of their respective schedules this week. NASCAR will be in Chicago for the beginning of its 10-race schedule that will finish Nov.

It’ll be quite a night for racers and fans Saturday night at Irwindale Speedway. In addition to five classes — Late Models, Irwindale Race Trucks, Spec Late Models. Legends and Rusty Wallace Racing Late Models — the track will again host first responders, who must show proper documentation.

Denny Hamlin overcame a bad miss of the pit road entrance to chase down Martin Truex Jr. with three laps left to win the Southern 500 at Darlington (South Carolina) Raceway on Sunday night. Hamlin checked up after sliding by the entrance with 54 laps left and fell behind Truex by 20 seconds.

This will be an important month for 21-year-old Trevor Huddleston of Agoura Hills as he closes in on a pair of driving championships: one at his home track at Irwindale Speedway and the other a national crown on the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.

Jeremy Clements battled Matt Tifft down the stretch at Road America before pulling away to the finish line after the two leaders spun out near the end of the second-to-last lap for his first career Xfinity Series victory at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

California Lightning Sprints make their final appearance of the season Saturday night at Perris Auto Speedway, with the points lead and championship still in contention. “We love going to Perris because it always has a big crowd and it is the premier dirt track in the country,” said Bobby Michnowicz, a four-time series champion and CLS president.

Kyle Busch continued his domination at Bristol Motor Speedway with a victory Friday night in the Xfinity Series race. The win was the 19th national series victory at Bristol for Busch, who also won the Truck Series race Wednesday night.

Robert Hight is the hottest Funny Car driver in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series as it nears the end of the regular season. He’ll roll into Brainerd International Raceway having won two of the most current three NHRA national events and last weekend’s Night Under Fire match race last week in Norwalk, Ohio.

Once again, and probably for the final time, Irwindale Speedway has announced it is closing. The half-mile oval dodged a similar bullet in 2011 when it closed for but reopened in 2013. It’s highly unlikely one of the best short tracks in the country will get another reprieve.

In the final analysis it came down to the land — or more precisely, the value of the land. The 63-acre site that has operated as Irwindale Speedway for nearly every year since 1999 is destined to become home to a

If Kyle Busch seemed to take a bit longer to take his customary bow after a NASCAR victory, it was understandable. It’s nice to savor milestone victories. Busch recovered from a spinout and a pit road penalty and survived a late restart to win the Zippo 200 on Saturday, his first triumph at Watkins Glen International in the Xfinity series.

Todd Gilliland, the 17-year-old stock car driver who used to live in Chino Hills, is on the verge of making NASCAR history Friday at Watkins Glen International for a K&N Pro Series East race. The son of former NASCAR Cup driver David Gilliland and grandson of one-time NASCAR Winston West champion Butch Gilliland is in the field for the Finger Lakes Wine Country 100.

Drivers came and went. The cars remained. The Fords raced the Chevrolets. They chased one bright red-and-blue Dodge. Richard Petty drove it, and David Pearson drove a Mercury and Cale Yarborough generally drove a Chevrolet.

IRWINDALE >> City of Hope nurses are becoming accustomed to the Saturday night whooping and hollering. It is coming from the room of Mary Lou Smith, who is undergoing successful treatment for leukemia.

On the surface, the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is a very successful annual event — considered by many to be the second-most important open-wheel race in the country — that benefits the city in many ways, financially and in world-wide prestige.

Kasey Kahne survived a crash-marred Brickyard 400 on Sunday for his first NASCAR Cup victory in nearly three years. The Hendrick Motorsports driver won under caution in the race that took more than six hours to complete, finally finishing in fading light after 167 laps and double overtime.

William Byron’s first trip to Indianapolis Motor Speedway ended with an unforgettable finish. After taking the lead with 15 laps left, the teenage rookie used some savvy moves and a little luck Saturday to hold off the hard-charging Paul Menard for his third NASCAR Xfinity Series win in less than a month.

INDIANAPOLIS >> Indianapolis is quickly becoming Kyle Busch’s favorite racing venue. Ten years ago, he met his future wife, Samantha, at the 2.5-mile oval. Last year, he pulled off a rare sweep by winning both poles and both races on Brickyard 400 weekend.

Matt Crafton won the Dirt Derby at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio on Wednesday night for his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory in more than a year. The two-time series champion passed Stewart Friesen with 16 laps to go and won by 1.

Kyle Busch dominated yet again to win the Overton’s 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series race Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He won for the third time this season and 89th time in his career in the second-tier series.

IRWINDALE >> It has been a trying six weeks for Toni Marie McCray. The acclaimed Southern California stock-car racer was the first to the finish line in the last four LKQ Pick Your Park Late Model races at Irwindale Speedway on June 17 and July 1 doubleheaders.

On May 13, Aric Almirola was involved in a high-speed crash at Kansas Speedway. At first, the three-car accident looked just like any other NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series incident. However, it soon became apparent it wasn’t just another wreck.

SPARTA, Ky. >> Martin Truex Jr. was dominant throughout and had enough left on a final restart to win the NASCAR Cup race Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway. Second in points entering the 400-mile event, Truex started second beside Kyle Busch and won the first two stages.

A familiar sight and popular person had been missing in the staging lanes and pit area at NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series events since March. It wasn’t quite the same without Terry Chandler on the grounds.

Xfinity >> William Byron raced to his second straight NASCAR Xfinity Series victory by avoiding several crashes and outlasting the rain Saturday at Daytona International Speedway. The 19-year-old became the youngest series winner at Daytona.

The chances are dwindling for Dale Earnhardt Jr. this season, the final shot for NASCAR’s most popular driver to win a coveted Cup title. First he has to make the playoffs, and his best opportunity at one of those 16 slots is a win tonight at Daytona International Speedway.

With two main events Saturday night, the Irwindale Speedway Late Model class will reach the halfway point of its 2017 season. Thus far, this campaign has a similar look to the past two years when Trevor Huddleston won the driving title.

SONOmA, Calif. >> Kevin Harvick returned to victory lane for the first time this season with a dominating run Sunday on the road course at Sonoma Raceway. The former NASCAR champion came to Sonoma winless in 20 races since Kansas last fall and has been overshadowed in this season of NASCAR’s young new superstars.

Chip Ganassi likes winners, and his drivers have him in prime position to celebrate another victory. Kyle Larson and Jamie McMurray swept the front row in Saturday qualifying at Sonoma Raceway to give Chip Ganassi Racing a 1-2 start for today’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup race on the wine country road course.

Veteran driver Patrick Long from Manhattan Beach will resume his intense GT sports car rivalry with Alvaro Parente this weekend in the fourth and fifth rounds of the Pirelli World Challenge Championships at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisc.

BROOKLYN, Mich. >> Ryan Blaney’s victory meant a lot to Brad Keselowski. It was Keselowski who gave Blaney a big opportunity back in 2012, when Blaney had a chance to drive with Keselowski’s team in the Truck Series.

The first of four rounds for the National Speedway Motorcycle Championship is set for Saturday night at Ventura Raceway. Fans of the sport will remember the event in the 1970s and 1980s when tracks in Costa Mesa, San Bernardino, Santa Maria and Victorville held weekly shows.

Pro race-car driver Kenton Koch blazes down the track at speeds of up to 180 mph, but he said it doesn’t feel like he’s moving fast at all. Sitting in a Ligier LMP3 Prototype, an Indy car-type vehicle with less power, as a rider for P1 Motorsports, he’s in his own cocoon, a space where he feels neither anxious nor afraid.

Ryan Blaney was splashed with beer, accepted some handshakes and even gave a fist bump in a raucous victory lane celebration. But with his car number nowhere on the leaderboard, the blossoming NASCAR Cup driver had to lift an ear on his headset to learn his result.

Blake Baggett will be enjoying a rare weekend off from the highly competitive Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championships, no doubt grinning. He scored his first major win last week in the third round of the series in Colorado.

IRWINDALE >> Irwindale Speedway’s winningest female racer on the half-mile oval finally won again. Toni McCray, who had not won a NASCAR race at Irwindale in nearly two years, led wire-to-wire to win the first of two 30-lap Pick Your Part Late Model series races on Saturday night in front of 2,280.

Jimmie Johnson sped off on the final restart and earned another slice of NASCAR history, winning at Dover International Speedway for the 11th time and moving into a tie for sixth on the career victories list.

Kyle Larson earned respect around the garage for his refusal last year to bump the race leader down the stretch for a win in the NASCAR Cup race at Dover. A year later, Larson had no concerns about adhering to an unwritten race code.

When the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series resumes this weekend in Epping, N.H., Don Schumacher Racing will have point leaders in Top Fuel dragster and Funny Car one-third of the way through the 24-national event schedule.

INDIANAPOLIS >> At the end of 500 miles around Indianapolis Motor Speedway, it was a former Formula One driver who took the checkered flag. He even drove for Andretti Autosport. It just wasn’t Fernando Alonso.

INDIANAPOLIS >> One of IndyCar’s all-time greats will lead the field to green at the Indianapolis 500. All eyes, though, will be one row behind Scott Dixon as Fernando Alonso makes his debut in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

SAN BERNARDINO >> There’s a definite Southern California flavor in the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship point standings following the second round of the season Saturday afternoon at Glen Helen Raceway.